U.S. Springfield Model 1903 Gallery Practice Bolt Action Rifle

Training with service rifles could be inexpensively performed at
reduced ranges with lighter recoil rimfire ammunition. This rifle
has a NRA marked floorplate, indicating sale to an NRA member prior
to WWI. SN 618812

The town of Springfield, Massachusetts, located on the banks of
the Connecticut River, was settled in 1636 by emigrants from
Roxbury. The town was nearly destroyed during King Philip's War in
1675, but it was quickly rebuilt. As early as 1776, Continental
Army colonel and future Secretary of War Henry Knox recommended the
establishment of public laboratories, magazines, arsenals and
foundries in secure locations for the production and repair of
arms, ammunition, and other ordnance stores. Both George Washington
and the Continental Congress concurred with this recommendation,
under which an ordnance depot was established at Springfield in
1777.

The town's access to raw materials, sources of water power, and
transportation, as well as its inland location which provided
security against seaborne attack, made Springfield an ideal
location. Over the following year, buildings were rented or erected
for use as barracks and storehouses. In addition to ordnance
stores, the depot at Springfield also handled other aspects of army
supply, including equipment, uniforms, tents, food, and fuel. The
end of the War for Independence also brought a decline in military
activities at Springfield.

In 1794, an Act of Congress directed that national armories be
established for the fabrication of small arms. President Washington
selected Springfield and Harpers Ferry, which was then located in
Virginia, as the sites for these facilities. In addition to the
advantages that contributed to the presence of a Revolutionary War
depot in the town, many skilled armory workers were still living
nearby. The government acquired nearly 300 acres and constructed a
dam to furnish power to the armory complex, as well as shops,
offices, and storehouses. The first permanent structure to be
constructed on the site was a brick powder magazine, which was torn
down in 1842.

Additional buildings have been constructed as necessary over the
years since. Production of arms at Springfield began in 1795, with
245 muskets manufactured during that year, and approximately 80,000
were turned out before production was discontinued in 1814. The
Model 1795 muskets were the first standardized U.S. martial arms to
be produced and were patterned after the French Model 1763
Charleville musket. Harpers Ferry Armory also produced a Model 1795
musket, but these were distinctly different from those manufactured
at Springfield.

The first known Springfield Armory-marked specimens were
manufactured in 1799, and feature dated lockplates which bear an
eagle stamp and the word "Springfield." The Model 1816 was first
standardized U.S. martial arm to be manufactured at both
Springfield and Harpers Ferry. These arms enjoyed the longest
production run in U.S. history, lasting until 1844, with nearly
700,000 muskets turned out during this period. Both armories also
produced the Model 1842 percussion musket and Model 1855 percussion
rifle-musket. These arms are significant in that the Model 1842 was
the last U.S. regulation .69 caliber smoothbore, as well as the
first to be made at both armories with completely interchangeable
parts, while the Model 1855 rifle-musket was the first rifle-musket
to be produced by the United States, the first to be produced in
the new regulation .58 caliber, and the last arm to be produced at
both government armories.

In addition to commonly produced arms, each armory was the sole
producer of certain other designs, such as the Model 1855
percussion pistol-carbine and various musketoons and cadet muskets
that were produced solely at Springfield, or the Model 1803
flintlock rifle, and the Model 1841 percussion, or "Mississippi"
rifles, both of which were produced only at Harpers Ferry.

Model 1861 and 1863 rifle-muskets, which were based on a
modification of the earlier Model 1855, were produced in great
quantities throughout the Civil War. These were the last muzzle
loading, paper cartridge percussion arms to be produced by the U.S.
Erskine S. Allin, Springfield's Master Armorer, designed a method
for converting many of these into metallic cartridge breech
loaders. This conversion consisted of a modification to the breech
to permit the installation of a "trap door" breechblock with a
self-contained firing pin. The famous .45-70 government caliber
"trap door" Springfield rifles and carbines of the Plains Indian
Wars were based on Allin's work, and these accounted for much of
the Armory's production during the 1870s and 1880s.

Springfield Armory was also involved in improving the state of
the art in military rifle design, and toward this end,
limited-production long arms including the Ward-Burton, Lee
Vertical Action, Hotchkiss, and Chaffee-Reese rifles were
manufactured there. These efforts culminated in the 1890s with the
Army's adoption of the smokeless powder Krag-Jorgensen bolt-action
repeating rifle as its standard longarm. These rifles, as well as
carbine versions, were manufactured at the Armory through the turn
of the century.

The Spanish-American War proved the superiority of the
German-designed Mauser, and the .30-'06 caliber U.S. Model 1903
bolt-action rifle, which was built at Springfield Armory and Rock
Island Arsenal under a license from Mauser, replaced the
Krag-Jorgensen as the Army's new standard rifle. Over one million
were manufactured before production was discontinued in 1941, and
many of these, as well as rebuilt or contract model Ô03s, saw
action in both World Wars. Prior to the First World War,
Springfield also manufactured the M1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic
pistol under license from Colt, and throughout this period, Armory
workers continued to experiment with, produce, test, and maintain
various other ordnance materiel including rifles, pistols, machine
guns, and related equipment.

During the interwar years, John Garand, a Canadian-born design
engineer and Springfield Armory employee, worked on a design for a
new gas-operated semi-automatic rifle. After overcoming several
problems, both with his designs and with Army brass, the U.S. Rifle
.30 caliber M1 was adopted by the Army in 1936.

The Marine Corps followed suit, and during the Second World War,
over three and one-half million M1s were produced at Springfield.
An additional 500,000 were manufactured by Winchester Repeating
Arms Co. This rifle, which General George S. Patton called, "the
greatest battle implement ever devised," gave American troops a
significant edge over their German and Japanese enemies, most of
whom were still equipped with bolt-action arms. After the war,
Springfield ceased manufacture of the M1 and turned its efforts to
the overhaul and long-term storage of these rifles.

The outbreak of war in Korea in 1950 caused a resumption in
production at the Armory, as well as by International Harvester and
Harrington & Richardson. The return of peace brought a second
and final discontinuation of M1 production. Springfield Armory's
continuing efforts at advancing military rifle designs yielded a
series of improvements to the M1, culminating in production of the
7.62mm NATO caliber selective-fire M14 rifle, which replaced the
Garand in the Army's inventory.

In 1968, the Ordnance Department ceased operations at
Springfield Armory. The Armory grounds, buildings, and museum, with
its extensive arms and accouterments collection, have become
Springfield Armory National Historic Site and are now maintained by
the National Park Service.